Harrison Cooper
Because of this (and partially because I’m cheap), I have a few old tires that are simply taking up the room, I swear I’m going to upcycle them and put them to good use. I’m a huge fan of DIY projects., Refurbishing and repurposing products have saved me quite a bit of money over the years and also provided me with unique, durable, and useful gardening tools. Plus, with some simple scrubbing, you can get rid of any dirt or oil left on the tire easily to consider it for use indoors.
A tire, a board, some screws, and a drill, plus heavy sisal rope (or anything else similar of your choice) creates an original ottoman you can match to your decor no matter where you decide to place it.
Similar to an ottoman, but with a more specific purpose in mind, consider making your tire into a coffee table. Frame a mirror, pictures, memorabilia, or anything else you can think of by crafting a new way to view things out of old tires.
Surprisingly, these old tires can actually provide a very unique and durable way to add a touch of the unexpected. Using either electrical or solar sources, you can create a variety of creative lighting choices with tires of various sizes.
You could even just use smaller pieces of textured rubber to repurpose or cover over worn-out existing fixtures. Depending on how fancy you want to get, a simple drill, Sawzall, and a little imagination can get you well on the way to creating some pretty cool lighting effects by using old tires.
Rather than spend the money on prefabricated structures your children will only use for a handful of years, look at how you might incorporate used tires. Climbing structures are easy to assemble with the help of a few well-placed sturdy bolts and a handy power drill.
Create domes, pyramids, and hanging walls, or secure some well-placed posts and tires together for more vertical towering structures. Tires can get warm in the hot summer sun, so be sure to paint them or more reflective color, or better yet, bolt a few sanded pine boards along the edges to provide a comfortable pace for your children to sit while they play. You can place them horizontally with a tree support rope (or chain) to sit multiple people, modify it to create a rope seat (similar to the tire chair described above), or hang vertically to sit within on upon and have fun all year long.
There are also many patterns available that show you how to cut and create tire horses, dinos, motorcycles, etc to swing from.
Teeter-totters may be hard-pressed to come by in most playgrounds anymore, but you can make your own version by cutting a tire in half and attaching a board over the top of it. Be sure to choose strong, durable tires that are already rated as a heavyweight to ensure they won’t compress when in use.
This has created many environmental problems as they do not decompose or rot and the last few decades have seen some creative and innovative ways to put millions of old tires to new use. By cutting them into stepping stones you also provide a place to stand or walk through garden beds.
Halved or whole, you can bury them into your steep slopes, fill them with rocks and/or dirt, and know you have created a dependable, long-lasting way up and down the hillside. They are easy to bury, stack, or tier to create small tranquil ponds or meandering bubbling brooks. The hollow of the tire can also serve as an excellent place to tuck the roots of your favorite water plants to keep them from growing out of control. Using tires in your garden as planters provide an incredible array of ideas to take advantage of.
Their shape already lends themselves to a more traditional design for use on patios, porches, and decks, plus they are sturdy and can be used with other materials to provide you with exactly what you may be envisioning. They can be stacked, hung, cut, and attached to surfaces with simple hardware, and really don’t require any special considerations.
Stack tires one on top of the other, or place next to each other, or even vary sizes to fill with potting soil and plant with all your summertime favorites.
These make excellent ways to show off your annuals, help separate certain veggies, or even designate your kitchen herb garden from the rest of the yard. There are so many creative ways you can take advantage of this idea with added lighting, paint, or other whimsical garden features. If you cut a design out of the edge of your tire you can peel back the rubber and create a unique way to display your summertime flowering favorites.
Zig-zags, scalloped edges, even larger-than-life lace-like designs can adorn your tire planters that look right at home along with your decks and porches. Let’s face it, the durability of tires provides the perfect foundation to create a myriad of shapes and forms for an endless supply of ideas for year-round, outdoor decor.
When entertaining outdoors I always feel like the garbages is too spaced out for people to toss their trash. Stack a few painted tires throughout your yard to create colorful supports for your trash bags in places that are easy to get to and allow guests to naturally linger without tripping over one. You can also take advantage of the opening it creates for living plants, small dioramas, lighting, or any other crafty items you can think of. This is a fun project that you can add your own personal touches to, and unless you look closely, looks just like a small wishing well in your yard.
Since tires essentially do not biodegrade easily and require friction and exposure to other environmental factors to even begin to wear it down- using tires in a more protected environment dictates a possible life of tens of thousands of years. This makes them an ideal choice for certain structural foundational supports, and if you have any large projects requiring a strong, long-lasting framework, you may want to consider tires as a possibility. There are just SO many variations of the ideas I proposed, as well as an endless supply of examples and different things made out of old tires.
